Bella Bites Back
by TwilightTales
Summary: Edward left Bella in New Moon, and when Victoria found her she turned her into a vampire so both her and Edward would be alone forever. 20 years later and they meet again, but Bella is angry at the Cullen's, at Edward especially, and she has a power more powerful than any of them. A power she's intent on using against them. EXB. HEA. A MUST READ. THREE SHOT.
1. Chapter 1

School was a tedious reality that I somehow enjoyed within my vampirism. I liked picking new subjects every time Charlie and I moved to a different city, a different country...

I liked studying the basics in class whilst I spent my nights learning the advanced bits, the College and PHD parts of the course that I was sure teachers barely remembered now.

I loved having a vast knowledge of almost everything on the planet. It was comforting... Liberating... A reason for existence...

You see, since the day I awoke from my change, I'd been different.

Different from the stories _he _used to tell me.

He would tell me vampires were uncontrollable. He told me they had an insatiable thirst for human blood and without the right help and companionship they could become monsters.

Now don't mistake me... There had been a slight monster in me... But she was gone within seconds.

Let me explain.

I had completely, utterly, 100% fallen in love with the high school vampire Edward Cullen when I was a human teenager in Forks. He was beautiful, smart, funny... Everything I could wish for...

He told me he loved me too... He told me he wanted me forever...

And then he left me. He told me he didn't want me. He said he didn't love me.

Heartbroken was an understatement. I became a statue. Living stone more real than Edward had been.

He and his family disappeared... I searched their house, our meadow... Every trace of him was gone.

And every trace of me had left with him.

But then Victoria came looking for me. She was out for revenge after Edward and his family had killed her partner James for attempting to murder me.

She had gotten me alone in the woods during one of my long walks one Sunday. She had her hands wrapped around my throat, ready to suck the blood from my veins when she realised that I was waiting...

I welcomed death.

With searing anger she realised Edward had left me. And instead of killing me... She changed me...

That way Edward and I would live a horrible eternity without each other, and my pain would never end.

I managed to somehow make it back to Charlie's house with her bite mark gauged in my neck, I locked myself in my room, threw myself on the bed and let the pain take over.

Charlie had learned never to bother me when I went into one of my moods, and so he continued unknowingly to pass in and out of the house every morning and night, assuming I'd gone to class and came home and went straight to bed.

He wasn't aware I was in my bedroom changing into a vampire.

When the damage was done, and my eyes snapped open, my brain hungry for the taste of blood, I flashed off the bed quicker than I thought was possible.

I stared at myself for endless minutes in the mirror; my pale face was beautiful, my hair floated down in silky waves and my body looked amazingly closer to that of a super models.

But that was when the front door opened, and the scent of Charlie's blood wafted straight up the stairs and into my body.

I was down stairs a second later, my hand wrapped around Charlie's neck as he stared at my red eyes in horror.

And I bit him.

My own father.

And it was then that I realised I wasn't like the other vampires Edward had described, because I looked at Charlie's face and a second later I'd let go of him, watching him fall to the kitchen floor as he asked me quietly what was going on.

I left the house immediately, my foot prints fast against the pavement as I ran towards the woods. My senses were heightened, and I found deer almost straight away, snapping their necks and glutting myself with their blood.

When I knew I was no longer thirsty, I went back to take care of Charlie.

Although I hadn't killed him, I had done enough damage to change him, and so I sat with him quietly as the days passed and he slowly turned into me.

It was a lot harder to talk sense into Charlie not to kill the neighbours, but thankfully he followed me into the woods and fed off the animals like I had.

Charlie was a good man.

And I was finally able to tell him everything.

So that was how our eternity started. Charlie had trouble with his thirst but wanted to fed on animals and so he used all of his willpower to do so.

Me on the other hand, I was like a human vampire. Human's didn't bother me at all.

It made for very easy living...

Well that, and my power.

I scoffed at the idea of Edward being able to read thoughts and Alice being able to see the future.

They had nothing on me.

I'd figured out my power slowly over the years, and I couldn't believe how much I actually expanded. I was a shield. I could protect my brain from Edward, just like I had been able to do as a human. But I was also protected from danger, from someone hurting me... It was like I put up an automatic wall that people could not get past.

Over time I was able to push my shield outwards. I was able to block off other peoples thoughts. I was able to protect others from harm.

I was able to raise my hand and stop people in their tracks, stalling them so they couldn't move an inch.

It was from that that I realised I could move people too.

I could flick my hand and they'd move in the direction I pleased.

It was very cool.

Not that I needed it much, I only ever used it when unfriendly vampires who were looking for a fight came into Charlie and I's new town of residence.

But we'd been in Portland for two years now, I was a senior in high school, and we hadn't had any trouble at all.

Did it scare me that we were so close to Forks? Of course.

Did I wonder what would happen if I met the Cullen's again? Obviously.

But I just had to remember, as Victoria had so nicely put it; Edward didn't love or want me, and I had forever to dwell on that fact and live in pain.

Plus it had been twenty years and I hadn't seen them again...

Well... Until now.

My friend Adam was chattering away beside me in English, and suddenly I began to listen to his words.

A new family had joined the school.

They'd moved from Alaska.

There were five of them.

One that Adam had particularly taken a liking to, a gorgeous blonde girl, was fiercely protected by her big muscular brother.

I stopped the air in my lungs, even though I didn't need it.

Like I said I was more human than the rest of the normal vampires.

I sat and thought about Adam's information during our English class. Lunch was next period... I'd soon be face to face with them.

And what would I do?

Had Alice seen this?

Did Edward know?

Fear struck through me... Edward didn't want me. Edward didn't love me.

And here I was ruining his family move to Portland.

No.

I was here first.

They could leave!

I growled under my breath as the fear suddenly formed into anger. They would see me, finally as the strong and powerful Bella I always was.

They would no longer see the fragile human.

And I'd make them leave.

Once the bell rang, signalling the end of English and beginning of lunch, I jumped up from my seat, books in hand as I turned to Adam.

"I'm going to my locker first," I nodded at him, "I'll meet you with the others at our table."

He didn't question me, as it was a common enough thing for me to say when I had to nip to the toilets to put in another pair of brown contacts over my golden eyes.

I let the class file out before me, before I turned on my heel and headed straight for my locker. I placed my belongings inside, grabbing another pair of contacts and glancing in my locker mirror so I could put them in.

I stopped myself, however, as I stared at my now golden eyes.

Let them see me like this, I nodded to myself, let them see what I became without their help.

I straightened my hair out, fixing my red blouse and skinny jeans before I took one look at my face, my red lips, pale cheeks and golden eyes.

I slammed the locker door shut and made my way towards the cafeteria, not sure what I would see when I entered.

But I didn't have to look very far.

The double doors to the lunch room closed behind me softly, and I watched as people moved around the lunch hall, grabbing their food, sitting at their tables, talking to their friends.

No one was paying any attention to me.

Good.

Because right there, at the bottom of the long hall, I could see them.

The perfect family that I adored so much.

And the perfect man... Edward.

They all looked so beautiful, so familiar... It hurt my eyes to look at them.

The last time I'd seen Edward he had told me he didn't want me, and that he didn't love me.

I had to remember that now.

I had to hold on to my anger.

Alice clearly hadn't seen me coming, because she sat talking to Jasper. As did Rosalie with Emmett.

But Edward sat staring at the wall, just like he had so many times back in Forks.

I bit back a growl, clenching my fists tightly before I felt around the edges of my shield, testing it lightly as I began to push it away from me.

Edward would surely be listening to the hustle and bustle of the lunch room, hearing all the human's thoughts, and so I began to shield them all one by one, taking a table at a time.

Shielding them meant that their thoughts would turn onto mute in Edward's head, and I watched his expression with a somewhat evil smirk as I quietly turned off the sound in the lunchroom.

It was silent.

He inhaled a breath, searching the room as if wondering what had happened, and then his eyes found mine.

"Bella?" He choked out in shock, his golden eyes widened and looking so happy that I thought he might burst.

His family's heads all shot in my direction, and I watched as he whispered softly, "It's really her."

Their faces were the picture of surprise and awe, and Jasper turned to Alice questionably, "Didn't you see this?"

Alice shook her head, her mouth draped open and her eyes boring into me, "Edward told me to stop watching her future, remember?"

These words angered me further. I growled lowly and unclenched my fist as I raised it slightly, making enough force to push their table lightly.

"Holy crap." Emmet muttered, "What kind of power is that?"

"A damn powerful one." Rosalie answered, and to my surprise, she looked impressed.

"She's cut off all the thoughts of everyone." Edward said in a quick breath, "I can't... Is it... Oh my god..."

"That's our Bella." Alice smiled suddenly.

My growl was louder this time, and it caused a few people at the nearest table to look up at me quickly, before resuming their conversation.

"I am not your Bella." I bit out slowly, low enough for only them to hear.

Edward's face dropped, "Bella, let us talk... Let us explain..."

"It's been twenty years since you left, Edward." I ignored the warmth that coursed through me at finally speaking his name again, "You've had your chance."

"We didn't know... You were a..."

"A vampire?" I raised my hand a little more, pushing his chair roughly, and I heard Rosalie giggle from beside him, "Victoria came back for me." I explained, watching his face pale in surprise and... Anger?

"But..." Edward stalled, trying to think of the words.

"And what if I wasn't a vampire? i'd be human. I'd be nearly 40. I'd be married with babies. I'd be long out of your reach and you still wouldn't have found me to explain."

Edward's eyes clouded over suddenly, and he glanced at the floor.

"No." I spat out, my index finger flicking upwards, causing his chin to lift and his eyes to meet mine again, "You don't get to be the one who looks away."

Jasper shifted uncomfortably, "Guys... She's really powerful... And really angry."

"Well done Jasper." I nodded sarcastically, "Hey you should've came back sooner, could've had that blood you wanted so badly when I was eighteen."

I felt bad for my words.

I didn't blame Jasper at all.

But I was livid.

Edward growled at my sentence, standing up sharply before I flicked my wrist and shoved him back in his seat, listening to the metal crunch slightly at the force with which I threw him back down.

"I want you lot gone." I bit out, "Charlie and I have a life here."

I watched their faces flit with surprise as they realised Charlie was clearly one of us too.

"I never want to see your faces again."

And then quickly I let my hold on everything go.

The forces keeping the Cullen's in their seats slacked, and I watched them relax slightly as Edward cringed at the voices now back inside his head.

I turned on my heel and walked out of the cafeteria, going straight to my locker and grabbing my bag.

I was already in my car when I heard the Cullen's speak their decision from the lunch room.

They were going to follow me home to talk about it.

Great. At least at home I wouldn't have to hold back.

**_Please review! I would love to hear all your thoughts and I promise if I have good feedback I'll update ASAP with the second half!_**

**_Thank you!_**


	2. Chapter 2

My car sped through the winding town faster than it should have. But at least I finally understood Edward's need to drive so fast all the time.

My hands were shaking uncontrollably and I could've sworn I was about to cry.

It was really Edward. He was actually in front of me.

I shook the thoughts from my head, knowing that by now they'd be following my scent to the house.

I turned the corner onto our drive, speeding down it quickly as my car slowly got swallowed up by the trees covering our house.

I didn't bother to park in the garage, I just left the car in little clearing beside our house.

I jumped out quickly, using my impeccable hearing to detect where the Cullen's were.

I had about two minutes to warn Charlie.

I called his name, knowing he would hear from wherever he was in our large house.

He was at the door in a second, clearly wondering what was wrong, "Yeah, Bells?"

"The Cullen's." Was all I said, and suddenly we both heard their car begin to speed up the drive. I ignored Charlie's growl, "Let me handle it."

He stared into my eyes for a minute, and I could tell he saw the anger there.

"Ok." He nodded, before he walked down the porch steps and lent gently against the banister, preparing himself for the show.

The car was very close now, they'd be able to see my figure, standing with my back to them.

I turned around quickly, flinging my hand into the air to halt their car.

Of course, it was travelling at over 100mph, and so the wall I put up to stop it caused it to crash, the entire front of the car crushing into itself loudly.

I smirked, watching with angry eyes as the Cullen's piled out of the car quickly.

"Jesus, Bella!" Emmett scowled, "You could have-"

"Killed you?" I raised an eyebrow, my voice cutting.

Emmett stopped speaking, glancing down at the ground as they began to walk slowly towards the house.

"Why are you here?" I interrupted the silence, and I noticed them looking at Charlie with awed eyes, before moving their gaze back to me.

"You have to let us explain." Edward pleaded gently, and his golden eyes began to dazzle me just like they had when I was seventeen.

Except now, I was angry.

I raised my left hand, stopping the Cullen's in their tracks before I flicked my right wrist, moving Edward away from them.

He glanced over at his family with confused eyes, "They can't help you." I muttered quietly, "And although I'm very angry with them, it's you that I have most of my problems with."

"Bella... I'm sorry." For a moment, he actually sounded sincere.

I growled, pushing my hand towards him, causing him to lift off the ground and crash straight into one of the oak trees nearby.

His breath left him in a whoosh, and I ignored it as Charlie chuckled from behind me.

I was about to do it again, when suddenly another car began to come down the driveway.

I frowned, glancing over at the Cullen's for an answer as my right hand held Edward in place on the ground.

The silver car pulled up next to the wreckage of the other one, and I watched as Esme and Carlisle jumped out quickly, flitting over to their sons and daughters.

Esme's eyes found Edward on the ground, before both her and Carlisle looked at me.

If any one could shake my resolve, it was them.

I ground my teeth together, willing myself not to give in.

"Bella..." Esme sounded so happy to see me, and suddenly she opened her arms, moving towards me slowly.

I quickly raised my free hand, stopping her.

"Don't." I bit out.

She seemed shocked that she couldn't move, but not so much that she didn't know about my power.

They had clearly informed her.

I spoke quietly, with authority, "This is my town. Charlie and I live here. We both want you gone..." I smiled, but it wasn't a nice smile, "So, I'm going to _talk _to Edward... And then, you guys are going to leave... Got it?"

The Cullen's didn't answer. Instead they just watched.

I mentally put up a wall against them, so they couldn't move towards us.

At least now both my hands were free to work on Edward.

I raised him slowly off the ground, my eyes on his figure as I took him in.

He looked shallow, almost willing for whatever I was going to do to him.

"How dare you come here." I whispered low, for fear my voice would break, "You have no right..."

"I didn't know you were here... I've had no idea..." He moved slightly, as if reaching for me, and I shot my hand up, stopping him immediately.

"How do you think it's fair," I started slowly, "That you tell me you love me... Tell me you want me forever... You make me the _happiest _girl in the world... And then you leave... You take it_ all_ back?"

He lowered his head, shutting his eyes quickly.

"_No."_ I growled, raising his head slowly with the tip of my finger, "Look at me. And answer."

"I did it... To protect you."

Rage flared in my bones. My eyes widened and I could feel my lips curl back over my teeth, "_Protect me?_"

My hands shot outwards automatically, and I faintly heard Alice call out to Edward a microsecond before he flung across the woods, crashing into a tree so hard it collapsed onto the ground.

He got up slowly, dejectedly, "Let me explain."

_"You don't get to talk!"_ I shouted, "You don't get to do anything! You left me, you're a coward who didn't love me! And why? I gave you everything Edward! I gave you my heart and instead of accepting it and trying to find something in me to love, you just ruined me instead!" I sighed, and I felt my eyes burn roughly, "I know I'm not the most perfect girl in the world, but I'm not so bad that I don't deserve love."

"You are perfect." He whispered, those golden eyes boring into my own, as if trying to get me to read his thoughts.

"Let's say, you did leave to protect me." I pondered this, flicking my hand casually as I roughly transferred Edward to another part of the woods, "How did that work exactly? Because Victoria still found me. She still did this to me. Here I am, I have forever now... I have eternity just like you... Except now I have eternity _alone. _All I ever wanted when I was seventeen, was to spend forever with you... And now I have forever without you... And I hate you for that."

He flinched at my words, and I almost felt bad.

Almost.

He made a run for me then, as if he as going to pick me up and cuddle me.

My brow furrowed as I raised a hand slowly, stopping him before he could even get to me, "Please Edward. Don't underestimate my power."

"Let me explain." He looked physically pained, and it only angered me further.

How dare he have this control over me.

After twenty god damn years.

"No. You know what you need to do? You need to understand the pain I went through. The pain when you left, when I cried endlessly over you... The pain as Victoria changed me... The pain every day as I sit through vampirism and wonder what you're doing... Who you're with... And the fact that I'm _alone_."

He lowered his head, almost ashamed, "I wish I could, Bella..."

I smirked, and the Cullen's all gasped as they saw my face. But I ignored them, taking a slow step towards Edward.

"You can." I whispered, my eyes narrowing in anger as my lips lifted in an evil smile, "You can feel it all."

Edward's brow furrowed in confusion, before his eyes widened with realisation.

And then, as I held his eyes, it happened.

I let the shield on my brain down.

I let Edward hear my thoughts...

I watched as he stood there, and I slowly began to show him what happened after he left me in the woods that day.

I showed him my actions. I made him feel how I felt.

His eyes were wide as he watched, and slowly, his breathing became laboured and he blinked back tears that weren't there.

He began to shake slightly, as I shifted through all my memories, all the tears, all the pain...

"Bella..." He bit out, almost as if he was choking.

And suddenly, he was collapsing onto his knees.

I heard Esme say something from behind me, but I heard Rosalie pipe up, "He needs to understand what he put her through. Let her do it."

So there, in the woods by my house, I laid twenty years of memories onto Edward, and I watched as he writhed on the ground in pain, crying out my name and contorting his face in such horror that I knew he was feeling it.

I'd felt it over twenty years, and now he was feeling it within a few minutes.

I showed him everything, my time without him as a human, Victoria hunting me down, my life as a vampire.

He got it all.

Finally, he knew my pain.

I let out a sigh, putting my shield back up once I was finished.

Edward lay on the ferns, the dirt and leaves staining his clothes but he didn't care.

He was panting for a breath, and his face was covered with his hands as he lay almost in foetal position.

A big part of me automatically felt guilty, and I desperately wanted to reach my hand out and help him up.

But he did it himself.

Slowly.

Almost as if he was rising to his death.

"Bella..." He started slowly, his head lowered so he couldn't meet my eyes, "I understand now... What I put you through... But you know that... I didn't... I didn't realise... I thought you would move on..."

"Yeah and _that _was because you automatically assumed that I didn't love you as much as you loved me..." I laughed once, humourlessly, "When as a matter of fact I clearly loved you more than you loved me..."

"That's not true." He almost shouted, exasperated, "I did love you! I _still _love you."

I stopped short as his words, blinking twice before I growled, "Stop. Lying."

"I'm not lying, I-"

I held up my hand as he took a step towards me, stopping him before he could come close.

"Bells." Charlie called me quietly, and I turned my head towards him, waiting for him to continue, "Let him explain."

My mouth dropped open in shock, and I turned fully to face him, "What?"

Charlie nodded thoughtfully, and I watched in shock as he smiled, sympathy for Edward on his face, "Let him explain, Bells."

**Please review! I will post the third and final update ASAP!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Let him explain, Bells."

I ignored the way the Cullen's sighed in relief, instead I questioned my father, "Let him explain?"

Charlie hated Edward for what he'd done to me, and here he was giving him sympathy?

He coughed gruffly, "If you let him explain then you'll at least have closure, Bell's. I'm sick of watching you torment yourself over him every day."

I didn't appreciate Charlie talking about my weaknesses so casually, so I turned my head away from him and back to Edward.

"Fine." I swallowed, "Go."

Edward glanced at the ground for a long moment, running his long pale fingers through his hair, "I never wanted to leave you, Bella."

He said the words so silently, so ashamedly... His mouth caressed my name and I fought down the feelings of love I still had for this boy.

I was angry. I had to remember that.

"I fell in love with you from the moment my thirst cleared from my mind and I properly looked at you." He stared into my eyes now, "Bella, I looked at you and my whole world turned upside down. For one minute, or even just a second, I want you to picture what it was like for me..."

I was about to bite out a seething comment, but he spoke before I could.

"I had been living on this planet for a lot longer than I should have. I was not meant to be in Forks High, I was supposed to be buried with my parents after the influenza took me at 17... I was not meant to meet you. But I did. And from the moment I looked into your eyes..." He stalled, smiling faintly at some distant memory, "I was hopelessly lost," his voice was nothing but a whisper, "I was lost to you, because every fibre of my being loved you, wanted you, needed to protect you..." He looked down, "I fought with myself, and I'll be honest Bella, I thought about leaving numerous times... You have to understand that I hated myself, I hated who I was... WHAT I AM... I didn't deserve your love, but I wanted it... I craved it like a form of air... I craved it more than blood... And I couldn't leave... I couldn't bare not to be by your side every day... And I had this sick thought that maybe I could protect you, maybe I WAS meant to meet you, and maybe I could use my strength to protect you from the world's dangers... That way I could stay..." He smiled sadly, "I started to believe that I was supposed to be found by Carlisle, I was supposed to be in Forks, and I was supposed to meet you and love you... I finally had found my purpose in life..."

I stared at him with gritted teeth, not out of anger, but because I had the overwhelming urge to cry.

"Bella, I know that while we were together we said we loved each other and we whispered sweet nothings to each other, telling each other constantly what we loved about each other... But you never, ever, understood the full extent of it... I love how your eyes can see through me, the depth of your brown eyes, and even now as they shine gold, they can see me... You knew me before I even knew myself... And the way you smile and bite on your bottom lip for approximately one and a half seconds before you giggle... The way you run your hands through your hair, and stop at the bottom to rub a few strands together in between your fingers... The way your blush used to creep up on your face at the simplest thing, and I loved it because it was proof that you were alive... It was proof that this world held someone so beautiful, gave her air in her lungs that kept her alive... Kept her with ME. You were my world, Bella Swan... Love was an emotion I had never felt before you... And all those nights when I watched you sleep-"

Charlie coughed from behind me, but I didn't turn, my eyes were fixated on Edward.

He glanced at Charlie quickly, "Sorry." He muttered, before focusing on me once more, "I watched you sleep, I heard you say my name, saying that you loved me... And I pictured it all, Bella... I pictured making you mine, as my wife, as a vampire that I could spend forever with..." He looked pained, "The thought of putting you through that pain, just so I could keep you forever... It's the most selfish thing I've ever thought..." He shook his head, almost disgusted in himself, "And then one day I realised... I was the danger... I wasn't protecting you! I was harming you every second and then one day I'd lose you for good... After everything with James, and then your birthday... I had to do something, _anything_, to protect you. So I lied to you, Bella. You have to know, the words burned in my throat, my entire being refused to say it, and I had to force the words out... That's why I came across so cold... Because there I was-" He swallowed convulsively, gritting his teeth, "There I was, telling the love of my life that I didn't love her... That I didn't want to be with her... But I had to, Bella... Because I was cold, and hard, and never changing... You were warm, and soft, and you deserved to find human love and get married and have babies, and grow old... I couldn't bare the thought of you being with another man, telling him you loved him, spending your life with him... But I had to stop being selfish... And I genuinely thought that it was best for you. I thought if I took myself out of the equation, there would be no more danger... You'd live a normal life, you'd love... And I'd continue endlessly in this black hole just like I was condemned to..."

"You were never a danger to me, Edward. You protected me." I could hardly say the words, but I had to say something.

"I know that _now_!" He breathed, "But I just assumed you'd move on..."

"That would never have happened. You're the love of my life, Edward. There was no one else for me!"

"Its true." Charlie piped up in the background, "If she wasn't crying then she was staring off into space, and if she was cationic she was sleeping."

Edward cringed slightly, "I just knew you could do better than me..."

"While you left me thinking about how you were off with god knows who doing god knows what!" I shouted suddenly, shutting my eyes closed tight as I clenched my fists, attempting to control my power.

"There would never be anyone else for me, Bella! I had accepted I'd be alone forever, as long as you had a chance at happiness I didn't care about me!"

I covered my eyes with my hands, attempting to think through what was happening.

Edward's voice came softly now, "When we left, I told Alice to stop watching your future... I knew you'd be safe... Or at least I thought you would... And I didn't want to wait for the day when Alice said 'oh Bella has a new boyfriend' or 'it's Bella's wedding day today' or 'Bella's going to give birth to a beautiful baby girl tomorrow'..." He sighed, "My family moved away, and I travelled for a few years alone... Nine years to be exact... I travelled the world and every god damn city I went to, I just thought of you... What would you say if you were here... What would you want to do and see... I saw your face everyday..." He was staring off into space, and his eyes travelled to his family slowly.

"So I eventually made my way back to my family..." He started, but Alice and Esme cut him off in unison.

"No." Alice shouted at him.

"Tell her what really happened." Esme encouraged, "You have to, Edward."

Our eyes met again, and I frowned, "Tell me."

He swallowed and my stomach churned at what he might say.

"It was one night in Venice... Your birthday to be exact... I was sitting by the grand canal, trying to see the water, but as usual all I could see was your face... I couldn't really believe nine years had passed... And as it all sank in-" he paused, glancing away from me before meeting my eyes in an intense stare, "I knew I had to go back... I had to find you... I had to make everything right again... I'd been stupid. We _were_ meant for each other! You were supposed to come to Forks to live and I was supposed to be there to meet you! I was supposed to fall in love with you because _you're_ my puzzle piece, and I'd hurt you and left, and I couldn't live without you, Bella." His last sentence held more weight than the rest of his words, and he repeated himself as he shook his head in sadness, "I couldn't live without you..."

We stood in silence for a long minute, and I hadn't even realised the anger had began to leave me, and just like twenty years ago my love for Edward was coming over me like a tidal wave.

"It had been nine years." He started again gravelly, "You would have left Forks, gone to College, got a job, a boyfriend, maybe even a fiancé or husband..." He smiled self loathingly, "You would have forgotten all about me... And what did I have?" He looked at me then as if I could answer, "You'd be happy with a perfect life, and I was _glad_ of that... I was happy for you... But I couldn't have been happy for myself..."

Looking down at the ground, his next words shook me to the core.

"I had nothing left. There was no point of being on the planet anymore... So I decided to die."

I stopped breathing, and my eyes were wide as I stared at him, "Excuse me?" I whispered slowly, sure I'd misheard him somehow.

"My plan was to go to Volterra... I'd expose myself in the sun to the humans... And the Volturi would kill me..." He nodded once, "So I went ahead with my plan... I made my way there that night from Venice... I waited until the sunrise, and I was just inside the church, about to open the doors to expose my skin... When they got me."

He ignored my gasp, and he didn't even meet my eyes.

"They'd stopped me from exposing myself and brought me straight to Aro... And of course once he touched me he knew everything... So he refused to kill me." Edward smiled sadly, "And he told me if I exposed myself to the humans, or did anything to get myself killed..." He paused, I waited, "If I did anything wrong... They would find you and kill _you_."

Edward didn't speak for a long moment, and it allowed me to collect my thoughts, trying to sort through all this new information.

"So I went back to the Cullen's and I continued on like normal... High school... College... All for 11 years until now..." He looked up at me, "I wanted to die, Bella. But I would not risk your life for that... As long as I knew that you were alive, that your body still walked this earth, no matter if it was with me or not... I would take my time at this hell on earth..."

We stared at each other, gold on gold, our eyes pained with the truth of his story.

I blinked, moving my gaze to the dirt beneath my feet as I took it all in.

Edward was going to kill himself, simply because he thought he could no longer have me... Because he believed there was nothing left for him... No purpose... No reason...

Images flashed through my head like wildfire.

The Cullen's in their house... And no Edward.

Emmett and Jasper hunting without their brother.

Alice seeing the future and having no one see it with her.

Esme seeing her children coming home from school and biting back impossible tears as Edward didn't walk through the door.

Their lunch table in school... Five chairs and only four filled.

The empty biology lab table.

No silver Volvo in the parking lot.

No Edward.

Ever.

My breath was coming quickly now, and I could feel something like tears burning in the backs of my eyes. I gritted my teeth together as I clenched my fists, feeling the anger at the thought of Edward Cullen not walking this earth

How dare he make that decision.

Didn't he know that imagining him out there somewhere was the only thing that gave me purpose in life?!

I growled, the pain soaring through me as I imagined getting told that Edward was dead, that seeing his inhumanely handsome face was an impossibility now...

That Edward Cullen, the boy who would always be alive... Wasn't.

Jasper spoke from the background, "Edward she's really angry... It's not directed at you but she's not focusing..."

Alice spoke up as Jasper finished, "Edward move out of the way."

I didn't see if he'd moved in time, but suddenly my hands were flying out in front of me, my fists unclenched as I let out a painful scream.

My eyes burned, and all I could see in my head was the Cullen lunch table with only four siblings.

I don't know how long I stood there with my arms outstretched and the power running through my veins, but when I stopped for a breath and let my eyes open, the woods had now become a massive clearing, with trees uprooted and piled on top of each other... All because of my anger.

I panted for air as I saw Edward standing to the left of the newly made clearing, watching me with unsure eyes.

"Bella?" He whispered.

"How dare you!" I screamed at him, "Why would you do that? Why would get yourself killed? Don't you understand what that would have done to me?! To have you _gone_..." I'd started shaking and I looked around the woods as if the trees would give me answers, "To know that... You could never come back..."

Edward was in front of me suddenly, and his hands reached out for my face.

I didn't have the brain power to push him away, and so for the first time in twenty years he touched me...

And he was no longer the hard and cold skinned vampire... He was soft... He was warm...

He lifted my face, making my eyes meet his, "I couldn't be on this earth without you anymore, Bella..."

"But you did... For 11 years after that..."

"Only because they would've killed you!" He gritted his teeth, "You... Dead... It's an impossibility for me to handle..."

"Then you could've came looking... You could have come to find me..."

"And see you happy? Without me? With another man?" He shook his head, "I couldn't risk that pain... And I didn't want to bring up unwanted memories for you."

"Unwanted? You're all I've ever wanted!" I shook my head, pushing myself away from his hold gently.

I turned around, glancing at Charlie as he smiled softly.

I knew what he was thinking, I didn't even need to ask.

He was a romantic, and he wanted a happy ending for Edward and I.

I took another look at the Cullen family, watching their hopeful faces as I took a step back, away from them all.

"I need to... I have to..."

I turned towards the woods, taking off before anyone could say anything to stop me.

I knew what I wanted.

The same thing I always had.

Him.

But what if he left again, what if he hurt me even more?

I ran. And I ran so fast I was almost out of earshot and only briefly heard them all telling Edward to go after me.

I picked up my paces, not knowing what I would say when he caught up with me.

Because I knew he would.

And five seconds later, he did.

I stopped first, holding my hand out to stop him from coming closer.

He sighed, hanging his head as I used my power against him.

"It's been twenty years." I stated bluntly.

"I know." He nodded, "Trust me."

"And what if everything you have said was a lie? What if you're just going to be with me for another year or two and then fuck off and break my heart all over again?"

His eyes looked outraged, "Bella, I'm in love with you." He whispered, "You're the love of my life, and I'm never leaving you again." He smiled softly at me, "Only in my wildest dreams would I have thought there would be a day where you'd be a vampire, and we could be together forever... That's all I've ever wanted but I thought I was too selfish to ever have it. You deserved a warm human man to comfort you, to marry you and give you babies."

"But I didn't want that... That's one thing you never understood, Edward... I only ever wanted you to comfort me and marry me. Yes, we couldn't have kids but I wouldn't need babies if I had you forever."

"I understand that now." He nodded slowly, "Bella I love you, and I want to marry you, and spend the rest of eternity being with you. I will forever be sorry for what has happened, but you have to understand that I thought it was best for you... And I will spend forever making it up to you."

I shook my head a few times, gathering my thoughts as I tried to breathe, even though I had no reason to at all.

"You'll just leave again." I whispered brokenly, "I know you will."

"No I won't!" He shouted at me, "Bella, my life as been this big black hole and suddenly now there's light again. The same light that came into my life the first time I met you..." He smiled, "I don't just exist anymore, Bella... I _live_. I have a life... And I finally understand now." He raised his arms and glanced up at the sky, almost as if he was talking to God, "Vampires... We exist for a reason... We are meant to be on this earth... I was supposed to meet you, and leave you... And as cruel as it sounds, Victoria was meant to change you... And I was meant to find you again... Because all of this has made me realise that yes, like I've known for over twenty years, you're the love of my life... But now I don't feel guilty for keeping you with me... Now I understand that it's _meant to be_... I would never have understood that otherwise... I would've spent forever feeling guilty and ashamed for being so selfish."

I listened to his words carefully...

Perhaps he was right...

I gritted my teeth, "I... We... We can try." I nodded slightly, "You guys can stay, and we can try... But I'm not promising anything... If you hurt me again... Or leave me again..."

"I won't." He whispered with a smile, "All I need is to prove it to you."

He held out his arms for me, and I hesitated, before realising if we were going to try then I really did have to try...

So I walked into his arms. I let him hold me close, smell my hair and run his fingers along my cheek before he kissed me softly.

And it was just like coming home...

And the best part?

He never left again.

He did prove it all to me. And we both forgave him for what happened...

Because twenty years ended up seeming like seconds now that we had eternity.

He loved me. He wanted me. He married me. And he kept me... Forever.


End file.
